A Nigerian newspaper editor detained twice in less than two months was this evening reunited with his family after being released by the country’s secret police. Musa Awwal, editor of the Hausa Language Al-Mizan newspapers published in Kaduna, North-West Nigeria, was woken from sleep around 4am on February 14 and whisked away to an unknown destination by the State Security Service (SSS).

The embattled journalist was released around 5pm today from his cell in a detention facility in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, and has since reunited with his family in Kaduna.

“I can confirm that he is back home,” a source close to Awwal told News Express.

Awwal had first been abducted by the SSS around 4am last December 21 alongside his Al-Mizan colleague Aliyu Saleh after the Kaduna-based Hausa Language newspaper published a story alleging that operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) had rounded up 86 youths in Potiskum, Yobe State. They were released on January 1 following pressure, including from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

•Photo: Awwal is breathing the air of freedom once again.